vapor || a.f.i.

0.1

zoe's hands grasped onto the sign as her shoes pressed onto the soft grass of the park. she stomped towards the group of people, her large sign with the words 'SMOKING KILLS' in her petite hands. 

"everybody!" she yelled to the group of people. mothers and their children on the playground stopped and turned, rolling their eyes. couples glared at her in annoyance. "i have something to say!"

"not this girl again." someone groaned throughout the crowd, many people beginning to leave. 

"i'm here to put a stop to smoking!" zoe yelled again, her palms getting clammy as more and more people left the park. "it, uh, kills many people and-"

she was cut off as a warm heat radiated from the sign, making her turn and scream. her sign had lit on fire, making her fan it to make it stop. people awkwardly left the park, ignoring and not trying to help zoe. she flung the sign around, as it slowly began to burn out, making every part of her craft singe and deteriorate. 

after putting her sign out, she turned to the crowd, noticing everyone had left. letting out a deep sigh, she turned to walk home, stopping as a boy in front of her lit his cigarette with a lighter, glancing up at her with a smirk and sliding it back into his pocket. his dirty blonde hair slightly blew in the wind, his eyes hidden behind his sunglasses on his tan face. a black sweater clung onto his body as he moved swiftly, staring at her deeply. the sun radiated on his glasses, making her able to see his hazel eyes behind them.

"that was really rude you know." she spoke as she snapped out of her thoughts. his good looks weren't going to get him out of this. "you should respect peoples property."

"oops." he shrugged, leaning against a tree as he took a drag of his cigarette. zoe scoffed, pushing her medium length hair out of her face and walking over to him. 

"i think i deserve an apology." she began, taking the cigarette from his hands and throwing it to the ground, scrunching it with her boot. the boy glanced down at the ground with a blank face. only to shrug and pull out another cigarette, lighting it with the same lighter he lit zoe's sign with. 

he stood up straight, walking away from her as he headed to his car. "excuse me!" zoe yelled behind him, storming towards him as he continued to walk. "excuse me."

letting out a deep groan, he turned around, glaring at zoe as she looked up at ashton. the sunlight cascaded across her natural tan face, making her chocolate brown eyes glow. ashton stared down at her, turning away yet again, about to get into his car. 

"i will not put up with this!" she yelled, tapping his tinted window. he slowly rolled it down, glancing up at her from inside the car, and threw his cigarette out, taking off down the street. she stood in shock, looking down at the cigarette as it slowly burnt out.

walking back to where she stood previously and picking up her burnt sign, zoe began to head home. 

her feet padded up the pathway as she reached her house, walking to the trash and shoving her burnt sign inside. she trudged up to the door, knocking softly.

"aunty jen," she muttered, "i'm home."

the door creaked open as her aunty stood with a warm smile on her face, slowly fading at zoe's expression. "someone's had a bad day."

ignoring her aunties comment, zoe walked past her and up the stairs into her bedroom. her body plopped onto her bed as she stared at her old ceiling fan. she picked the dirt out from under her nails as she also kicked her shoes off. sitting up straight in her bed, she glanced at her desk and the crafts which covered it.

trudging over towards the desk, she pushed her crafts onto the floor. groaning and sitting in the seat, she traced her fingers along the photo frame, only to push it down so she couldn't look at it.

"zoe." her aunty softly knocked on the door, "are you okay in there? i heard a lot of noise."

"i'm okay aunt jen." zoe breathed, speaking the next few words to herself. "i'm okay."

she slowly walked down the stairs, wearing only a baggy tee shirt and underwear. aunty jen sat in the dining room, a cup of coffee in her hands. zoe swiftly made herself a bowl of cereal and a hot tea, sitting across from her aunt. 

"are you going to work today?" her aunt asked her, sipping her coffee. 

"uh, yea." zoe nodded, glancing out the window and sipping her tea at the same time. "when do you have to be at the office." 

"around noon." jen huffed, earning a nod from zoe. 

zoe ate in silence as jen talked about a new guy she's been seeing and how stressful her job is. after finishing her tea and cereal, zoe placed her dishes in the sink, ran upstairs to get changed and headed for work. 

as she stood in front of the town bakery, she placed her pastel blue cap on top of her head, fixing the 'no smoking' sign on the front door and heading in to start her shift. flipping the closed sign over to reveal the bakery was open, she began her day.